And L Got the Smarties
by Cori the Freak-of-nature
Summary: First snow day of the season and L is there, but no one knows that. Except maybe...


Screeching children filled the wide front lawn in from of the Victorian era house. The dead grass, frozen from the frost that coated the ground, crunched under booted feet as the small figures of the children ran, trying to catch flakes of the first snow fall of the season in their open mouths. All but three children from the orphanage were outside. Up in the play room, a blonde eight year old, all in black, sat on the arm of a wide couch, munching on a bar of chocolate. When all that was left were the crumbs at the very bottom of the wrinkled foil he scowled, crumpled it up, and lobbed it at a slightly younger red-head a couple of feet away. Said red-head was previously laying upside-down… on a rolling chair.

His head had been dangling off the front, his gangly legs bent over the back of the chair. In front of his head he held some sort of gaming device (it seemed he had either a new consol or game everyday) that had the sound of explosions and blasting lasers emanating from the surprisingly large speakers. His face was a mask of intense concentration as his thumbs jabbed at the brightly colored buttons; although he was biting his lower lip, he had somehow managed to stick his tongue ever-so-slightly out of the corner of his mouth. His eyebrows were knitted together as he continued to blow up whatever was on the screen in front of him. Of course, that was _before_ a shiny piece of foil went flying at his head.

"GAH!" he exclaimed. Tumbling from his unstable position, he landed spread eagle on the floor, the chair quickly following. "Oof!" the air was forced from his lungs. The chair had landed on top of him. As the blonde boy began to laugh hysterically, the game-addicted red-head yelled "MELLO!"

"You… should… have seen… your… face…!" Mello choked out between gasps for air. "Matt that... was… sooooooo funny!" He proceeded to be knocked from his perch on the couch's arm by a child's-plastic-block-turned-projectile. In the corner, amidst piles of dozens and dozens of puzzle boxes, a tiny, pale boy with silver-white hair looked on, almost going unnoticed.

"Near, whatd'ya think?" Mello turned to the small boy to whom he never asked question. Matt and Near, both equally surprised at this sudden change in behavior, just stared; Near, blankly; Matt, shocked. "What?" Mello asked when he saw their expressions.

"Are you feeling alright?" Matt said as he slowly pushed the chair off himself and crept forward on his hands and knees.

"Yeeeeeeah… Are _you?_" Mello replied, edging backward as Matt stood up.

Meanwhile, Near, overtaken by curiosity, was picking his way out of the pile of boxes, leaving the puzzles he'd completed more times than anyone at the orphanage could count behind. Wide, dark eyes peered at the two. Innocent to the extreme, he padded across the thick carpet and extended his hand to Mello who had not yet picked himself off the floor. After hesitating for a second or two, he put his hand up and was pleasantly surprised when Near attempted to help him up. '_Attempted_' being the key word. Due to his genetically limited stature, it was physically impossible for Near to move Mello more than an inch. So, Mello, unusually enough, took pity on the small albino and pushed himself up with his other hand. After a restrained nod of thanks in Near's general direction, Mello turned back to Matt.

Near just walked over to one of the desks where some of the other children had been playing 'School' before the snow had started and sat down. Unwrapping a packet of Smarties that someone had foolishly left there, he began to sort them by color and then stack them in an odd configuration which included some of the smarties precariously balancing on their sides atop one another. While he was doing this, the conversation between Mello and Matt had continued.

"_I _am perfectly fine. I was just wondering why _you _actually talked to Near without being mean and without being asked," Matt stated. Mello's response was a shrug and a muttered comment.

"I just wanted a second opinion."

"And you'll get it," Near, speaking for the first time in the whole conversation even though his eyes never left the stack of candies in front of him, interjected. Mello walked over and flopped into the chair in front of Near's desk. After a few moments of silence:

"_Well?"_

"It _was_ pretty funny," he said finally, with a slight apologetic glance at Matt.

"Wha? NEAR!" Matt yelled as Mello yet again began to laugh. Fuming, Matt stomped out of the room.

"Aw! Matt, c'mon! It was funny! You'd be laughing at me if I had done that!" Mello started to get up, then paused and looked at Near. Then he glanced at the Smarties on the desk, balanced perfectly. And then he looked back at Near. "Stop that," Mello deadpanned, and then walked out after Matt.

Near looked around the room for a second, as if making sure he was really alone, then stared at the security camera in the corner of the room. He then pointed to Smarties sculpture, his mouth and then to the camera, and then waved, smiling triumphantly. He left the room after Matt and Mello.

Down in the office, where the computer screen held the image of the empty play room, Watari and Rodger glanced at L as they chuckled.

"How did he know you were here?" Watari asked.

"I can honestly say, that for once I do not know," L replied as he stood up from his chair.

"Where are you going?" Rodger was the one to pose the question this time. L's response was simply a small smile. Rodger and Watari turned back to the computer and a few seconds later saw L walk into the play room alone.

Then L walked over to Near's desk and got the Smarties.


End file.
